The Theology of Bootleg Toy Stores

Every so often my daughter will come home with a new toy she picked up from the Awana store at my church (not a real store), which she received by redeeming participation points. (For those who don't know, Awana is a weekly youth program for kids that want to learn more about Jesus and his gospel.) For instance, bringing a pair of sturdy running shoes nets you 300 points. Bringing a bible nets you 100 points. Bringing the Awana workbook gets you 200 points and so on... (These aren't actually the point values, just an educated guess.)

Imagine your reaction going into a toy store and seeing a bunch of cheap things that are mass-produced and made of frail plastic. Now, add some creative intellectual property infringement and this would begin to paint a picture of the Awana store. (Sometime, I will have to ask the church where they get the toys... I'm actually kind of interested in where they come from.) 

These are some of the things I saw on offer:

• Chevron Car Mascot toys from the late 90s
• unfinished 3D printed toys
• paper kaleidoscopes 
• Overstock McDonalds Happy Meal toys. 
• mini Double Bubble gumball machines
• rubber bouncing balls
• bootleg transformers
• bootleg Mario Kart remote control cars
• miscellaneous toy donations

The asshole, twenty-something in me that picks up these anemic baubles shouts, "it's the garbage of a consumeristic society. Literally the waste product of globalism!" But upon closer examination, those kinds of ideas are just as much the product of a wasteful capitalist society as well. So, way to be a critic, Stuart. Meanwhile, the kids playing with their new prizes are having a blast.  

Last month I read Mark Russell's satirical comic Billionaire Island, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in prescient commentary on the imminent collapse of the middle class. In the book, among many other points, Russell's takeaway is that Western societies equate intrinsic worthiness with an assigned monetary value. So it's to be expected that I would look at a cheap soccer ball, off-gassing VOCs and think unfavorable things. The way the kids reacted to the store though taught me an unexpected theological truth: our value is not baked in by society or popular opinion, it's baked in by God himself. We are valuable because God values us. Just like a kid playing with a 3d printed dragon egg with bad layer adhesion, God enjoys us with the same intensity and approve of us. 

Now, could the toy be better? Could it be worked on and improved? Just like Christ imputes to us his righteousness, my kid could begin to repair and improve upon the toy she got from the Awana store. She could repaint it or reinforce the joints or improve the electronics and make the toy what it was originally intended to be. In other words, useless toys meant for destruction are given new purpose and saved from "Gehenna" (ie. The Tajiguas Landfill). It's not a perfect analogy for God's purposes but it was what came to mind after some reflection.